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Classification Order: Diptera – true flies Family: Asilidae

Length .12 to 19mm.

Phenology May to October, peaking in June and July.

Identification

Neoitamus cyanurus is a species of 'stiletto flies' belonging to the family Asilidae A large dark elongate species. Leg Bristles nearly all black ; tarsi with only the extreme base orange. Abdomen of the male shining steel-blue on the sixth and seventh segments, in the female those segments appear to form a part of the ovipositor. Male claspers elongate oblong. Typical of the family they have a Mystax - dense moustache of stiff bristles on the face; this is called the mystax, bright orange tibiae and dark-grey appearance allows easy separation from Machimus species

Life Cycle

This fly is an ancient woodland species (especially oak). adult insects perch on tree trunks, or branches waiting for flying insects, which they then capture with their long bristly legs. The prey are often larger than the captor. The prey spectrum is broad including, for example, flies, gnats, cicadas, beetles and many more.The larvae develop in the soil and there feed on insect larvae

Habitat

 

IMAGES COURTESY (C) GEOFF FOALE 2017